State GOP Chairman Scott Golden has also issued a press release calling on the two Democratic candidates for governor, Karl Dean and Craig Fitzhugh, to denounce Jordan as an example of “extremism in their party.”

And Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally has declared in a tweet: In my 40+ years in politics, I’ve seen few candidates as dangerous as Gayle Jordan. We need to strongly reject her assault on faith and our Tennessee values. District 14 needs to send @ReevesforTN to the @tnsenate on March 13!

Jordan responded in a Facebook video that McNally shouldn’t be using taxpayer money “wasting time on Twitter attacking religious liberty:”

We don't need another tax-payer funded Tweet'er in Chief. Let's get to work on the real issues at hand. Vote #TNValues March 13th. Vote Gayle Jordan for State Senate.Paid for by Campaign to Elect Gayle Jordan, Wanda Ogletree, Treasurer

The GOP nominee is businessman Shane Reeves, who isn’t even mentioned in the GOP mailer attacking Jordan. The Democrat has a more generic mailer out herself, headlined with a declaration that she “supports expanding access to healthcare for all our families.”

Republican U.S. Reps. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and Scott DesJarlais have announced they’ll appear at a “get-out-the-vote” rally in Murfreesboro Saturday with Reeves.

Excerpt from the TNGOP direct mail piece:

ANTI-RELIGION

-Gayle Jordan describes herself as a ‘firebrand atheist.’

-Jordan has served as the Executive Director of Recovering from Religion, a non-profit that helps individuals ‘cross that bridge’ from believing in God to being an atheist.

ANTI-TENNESSEE VALUES

-She is pro-choice and ‘relentlessly supports and will defend’ abortion rights, putting the lives of unborn children in danger.

-Opposes repealing Obamacare, telling USA Today, ‘don’t repeal it.’

OPPOSES PROTECTIONS FOR CHILDREN

-Jordan is ‘dissatisfied’ with legislation that would protect our children by limiting which bathrooms transgender individuals may use in public schools.

The aggressive GOP attacks are a contrast to the relatively benign approach to the recent Senate District 17 special election, where Democratic nominee Mary Alice Carfi came within 308 votes of defeating Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon), causing alarm in some GOP circles. (Previous post HERE.) Both Senate districts 17 and 14 are considered staunchly Republican.

Early voting has been underway since Feb. 21 and continues through Thursday with March 13 as election day. The special election was triggered by the resignation of former state Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) to take a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Through Monday, a total of 4,493 votes have been cast in the special election, according to the state Division of Elections website.

A particularly aggressive, toxic wing of the Democratic Party has reared its head in Tennessee and now that its members are running for office it gives us the opportunity to show just how unpopular are its ideas. Insofar as Shane Reeves finally has an opponent even less conservative than Shane, hopefully he will now receive the votes of an overwhelming majority of voters in District 14.

The GOP is worried about school bathrooms and bashing Obama? Really? Seriously? They keep voting for looser gun laws that are a much bigger danger to the children of TN and a recent news report says that TN ranks 38th out of 50 states in women’s health and safety. If a so-called hippie, liberal atheist activist has a plan for fixing these real TN problems, she deserves to win the race.

What is truly sad about this tacky attack is that there are just too many under-educated who will swallow this cheap character smear hook, line and sinker. No wonder Republicans are working overtime to destroy public education.

Those who believe in the preposterous superstitious supernatural are the ones who lack common sense. The truth is that many of the problems today have been caused by religions which have wreaked havoc on humanity throughout its sordid history – right up to this very day. Provide proof for your sky king and make believers of us all. You will not because you cannot. And which ‘god’??? There are hundreds to choose from. Oh, but of course only YOUR particular fantasy is the one true fantasy. It’s all fiction and it’s ALL insane.

It is sad that persons like Shirk are so concerned about the health of women and so unconcerned about the health of the unborn. I guess life does not become valuable until birth. Their argument for the safety of our school children and women’s health would be so much more credible if they also included the unborn. Until that happens, I will continue to vote Republican.

Good for her, time that thinking, intelligent people with a sense of humor make strides in regions normally overstuffed with cretinous evangelicals. Both comments have been taken so wildly out of context, so far from the humor they evoked, that I’m not surprised the subletly is lost on idiots.

And please spare us your concern for the unborn, which apparently stops Immediately following birth. We see your hypocracy. We see your support of serial pedophiles, rapists, gun mongers and morally bankrupt politicians so long as they toe your brand of religious fanaticism.

People are waking up. Even in the little old red state of Tennessee. Yeehaw!